STEVENS 


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DR.   STEVENS' 
VALEDICTORY  ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATES 

OF  THE 

COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 

OF  NEW-YORK, 
*  Delivered  ^larcli  lltli,  1847. 


AN 


ADDRESS 


THE    CLASS    OF    GRADUATES 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK, 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  COMMENCEMENT, 
March  11th,  1847. 


By   ALEXANDER  H.    STEVENS,  M.D., 

PRESIDENT   AND   EMERITUS   PROF.    OF   SURGERY. 


NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED  BY  HENRY  LUDWIG,  70  &  72  VESEY-STREET. 

1847. 


"0? 


ADDRESS 


Gentlemen  : 

Sooner  or  later,  all  require  the  aid  of  medicine, 
The  services  of  medical  men  belong  not  to  those  of 
one  race,  or  character,  or  condition,  or  sect,  but  to 
all.  Humanity  is  the  broad  field  in  which  they  labor. 
The  purpose  of  their  labor  is  pure,  unmixed  good  ; 
not  the  good  of  a  part  only,  nor  yet  (as  often  in 
other  occupations)  the  good  of  one  at  the  expense 
of  another ;  but  the  good  of  all,  and  that,  the  greatest 
of  all  earthly  goods — a  sound  body  with  a  sound 
mind. 

Independently  of  its  value  as  a  means  of  preserving 
and  restoring  health  and  prolonging  life,  medicine 
is  a  necessary  element  of  civilization.  Above  all,  it 
is  an  appropriate  element  of  Republican  civilization. 
It  deals  with  man  as  man,  and  sees  him  with  re- 
ference to  his  moral  and  physical  constitution  alone, 
independently  of  all  extrinsic  circumstances.  The 
humblest  is  a  man  "  for  all  that,"  and  the  highest  is 
no  more.  Medicine  in  its  kindly  influences  assuages 
bitter  passions,  and  promotes  sympathy  and  good- 
will. It  enlightens  and  elevates  the  social  condition 
of  mothers,  and  diffuses  among  all  a  spirit  of  bene- 
volence and  the  truths  of  science,     To  the  nursery 


ADDRESS. 


it  carries  sound  notions  on  moral  and  physical  edu- 
cation, and  enforces  the  most  important  truths  of 
physical  well-being.  At  the  fireside,  it  discourses  on 
the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  the  Creator,  as  mani- 
fested in  his  works  ;  and,  in  all  places,  when  in  sea- 
son, may  even  add  a  word  on  man's  moral  accoun- 
tability. 

Take  away  the  medical  profession,  and  the  whole 
face  of  society  would  be  darkened.  The  light  of  sci- 
ence would  be  shorn  of  one  of  its  brightest  rays.  In 
the  darkness  that  would  follow,  imposture  and  fanati- 
cism would  lose  their  most  potent  check. 

Of  the  three  learned  professions,  medicine  em- 
braces the  widest  range,  not  only  in  the  objects  of 
its  study,  but  in  the  extent  and  number  of  sciences 
that  are  tributary  to  it.  Theology  regards  man  as  a 
religious  and  moral  being,  possessing  reason,  con- 
science and  will,  and  responsible,  not  only  for  his 
acts,  but  for  the  motives  of  them.  Its  aim  is  to  dis- 
cover man's  duty,  and  to  cause  him  to  act  up  to  it. 
Law  regards  him  as  a  member  of  society,  and  as 
amenable  to  society  for  his  conduct.  It  protects  his 
political  and  civil  rights — secures  him  in  the  posses- 
sion and  in  the  transmission  of  his  property  ;  and  in 
return  requires  him  to  respect  the  rights  of  others. 
Medicine  begins  its  study  by  examining  the  wonder- 
ful fabric  of  the  human  body — its  structure  and  its 
functions  ;  how  it  is  influenced  by  the  laws  of  chem- 
istry and  mechanics,  and  especially  by  the  unknown 
principle  we  call  life.  It  then  looks  at  what  is  pecu- 
liar to  man,  his  intellectual  and  moral  faculties ;  and 


ADDRESS. 


with  a  hardihood  not  unlike  that  of  Prometheus,  it 
seeks  to  discover  not  only  the  seat  of  these  faculties, 
but  even  the  nature  of  the  union  between  life,  mind, 
and  matter.  Let  it  be  observed  that  the  subject  of 
its  studies  is  no  other  than  the  laws  of  God.  Not 
those  revealed  in  writing,  or  by  tradition,  but  in  the 
physical  creation.  The  object  of  these  studies  is  his 
last,  his  greatest  work — his  self-like  creature,  man. 
Him  it  is  the  aim  of  medicine  to  improve,  to  pre- 
serve, and  when  disabled,  to  restore.  It  looks  not  to 
his  material  body  alone,  but  to  his  intellect,  and 
moral  feelings — immortal  parts  entrusted  to  its  care. 

In  behalf  of  suffering  humanity,  and  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  the  physician  lays  under  contri- 
bution the  three  great  kingdoms  of  nature  :  obtaining 
his  materia  medica  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
from  the  forest  and  the  field,  from  the  air  and  the 
sea,  he  subjects  them  to  the  operations  of  chemistry 
and  mechanics,  in  order  to  fit  them  for  his  use. 

He  further  brings  the  imponderables  to  his  aid ; 
heat,  light,  electricity  in  its  various  forms,  and  those 
still  more  subtile  principles,  the  external  senses  and 
the  mind.  He  subjects  his  patients  to  the  influence  of 
beautiful  scenery,  to  the  concord  of  sweet  sounds, 
and  makes  even  the  mental  faculties  subservient  to 
the  cure,  not  of  the  bodily  maladies  only,  but  of  their 
own  :  finding,  thus,  in  the  mind  itself,  a  balm  for  its 
own  wounds,  and  a  true  vis  medicatrix. 

Some  have  reproached  medicine  for  its  tendency  to 
infidelity ;  others  have  ridiculed  it  for  its  uncertainty. 
- — In  regard  to  the  first  charge,  I  shall  only  remark, 


ADDRESS. 


that  many  of  the  most  illustrious  physicians  have 
been  eminent  for  their  piety  ;  a  large  portion  of  the 
most  worthy  practitioners,  are  of  the  same  character. 
We  must  go  among  the  smaller  men  of  our  profes- 
sion to  find  sceptics  or  infidels.  In  respect  to  its  un- 
certainty, it  is  less  uncertain  than  law,  and  settled 
as  much  as  theology.  Like  both  law  and  theology, 
its  fundamental  principles  are  clear  enough ;  but 
many  of  its  details  are  more  or  less  uncertain,  and 
are  the  subject  of  inquiry  and  research.  If  medicine 
were  a  perfect  science,  it  would  cease  to  be  progres- 
sive ;  its  votaries  would  become  mere  artisans  ;  the 
excitement  of  hopeful  labour  would  become  lost  in 
certainty.  The  Omniscient  only,  without  effort  and 
intuitively,  knows  all  things  ;  man,  by  mental  exertion 
alone,  acquires  knowledge.  Successful  intellectual 
occupation,  is  a  source  of  abundant  happiness  ;  and 
when,  as  in  our  science,  there  is  superadded  the  ap- 
proval of  the  moral  feelings,  it  becomes  one  of  the 
most  exalted  employments  of  the  human  mind. 

With  all  these  appliances,  what  has  medicine  done  ? 
It  has  added  much  to  the  length  of  human  life.  It 
has  added  much  to  its  comfort.  It  has  almost  ban- 
ished one  pestilence,  and  it  has  mitigated  others.  It 
has  arrested  the  uplifted  arm  of  the  law  ready  to  fall 
on  those  incapable  of  moral  agency,  and  rescuing 
them  from  the  condition  and  treatment  of  criminals, 
it  often  restores  them  to  society.  It  mitigates  the 
horrors  of  war  and  enhances  the  enjoyments  of  peace. 

No  profession  exceeds  our  own  in  the  warm  feel- 
ings of  attachment  which  grow  up  between  its  mem- 


ADDRESS. 


bers  and  the  community  in  which  they  exercise  their 
vocation.  Here  in  this  great  metropolis,  with  its 
fluctuating  population,  the  truth  of  this  remark  is  less 
evident  than  in  smaller  towns  and  a  more  fixed  and 
stable  condition  of  society.  Apart  from  the  gratifi- 
cation that  arises  from  the  discharge  of  duty,  and 
from  success  in  efforts  to  relieve  the  suffering  and  to 
heal  the  sick,  there  is  a  pleasure — (the  oldest,  the 
most  platonic  of  us  must  allow) — there  is  a  pleasure 
in  being  loved.  Who  can  be  insensible  to  warm 
tears  of  gratitude  for  life  preserved,  or  health  re- 
stored ? 

But,  although  these  are  the  highest  rewards  of  our 
profession,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  we  should  be 
indifferent  to  more  substantial  manifestations  of  grati- 
tude. "  As  faith  without  works  is  dead,"  so  gratitude, 
without  substantial  manifestation,  lacks  what  is  to  us 
a  living  principle. 

The  relations  which  a  truly  great  man  in  our  pro- 
fession bears  to  the  whole  brotherhood  of  physic,  are 
not  less  agreeable  than  those  which  every  worthy 
practitioner  holds  to  the  families  which  entrust  him 
with  their  health  and  lives.  Being  in  Washington 
just  before  the  inauguration  of  General  Harrison,  I 
had  the  gratification  there  to  meet  the  late  Doctor 
Linn,  a  Senator  from  Missouri.  The  conversation 
turning  on  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  I  remarked  that  I  had 
tried  to  induce  him  to  visit  America.  "  Oh,  yes, 
and  so  did  I,"  he  replied,  "  I  told  him  we  would 
pave  his  path  with  our  hearts."  Thus,  you  see. 
gentlemen,  all  the  votaries  of  medicine  are  of  one 


ADDRESS. 


brotherhood ;  for  their  art  knows  no  bounds  of  re- 
gion, climate,  or  civil  institution.  Wherever  man  is, 
there  is  medicine,  and  so  it  has  been  ever ;  she 
came  to  him  at  his  first  cry  of  helpless  infancy — sick 
or  wounded,  she  takes  him  to  her  bosom,  and  when 
about  to  die  she  smooths  his  pillow  and  resigns  him 
to  his  God. 


Gentlemen  Graduates : 

I  have  endeavoured  thus  briefly  to  place  before 
you  the  objects  of  our  art,  the  means  it  employs,  the 
results  of  its  labours,  and  the  rewards  accompanying 
them.  Such  is  the  profession  you  have  just  entered, 
and  to  which  we  welcome  you.  You  constitute  the 
largest  class  that  has  ever  issued  from  these  walls ; 
not  the  largest  only,  but  incomparably  the  best. 
Your  examinations  have  been  better  sustained  ;  your 
dissertations  evince  more  acquirement,  more  reach 
of  thought,  and  most  of  them  manifest  a  higher  de- 
gree of  scholarship.  I  hail  this  as  the  cheering 
harbinger  of  a  brighter  day,  of  a  higher  standard 
of  medical  education.  Now  honourably  enrolled 
among  the  graduates  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  carrying  with  you  its  broad  seal, 
you  are  soon  to  separate,  and  in  the  fulfilment  of 
your  several  missions,  to  diffuse  yourselves  among 
the  mass  of  society  in  various  portions  of  our  coun- 
try, or  in  its  public  service.  My  young  friends,  the 
occasion  calls  for  a  few  words  of  encouragement  and 
advice.     Receive  them  from  one  who  has  gone  far 


ADDRESS. 


on  the  journey  you  are  now  about  to  commence. 
With  a  knowledge  of  the  healing  art,  you  will  carry 
with  you  a  large  share  of  scientific  acquirement. 
When  to  this  I  add,  a  deportment  uniformly  decorous 
and  gentlemanly,  it  will  hardly  be  doubted  that  you 
will  be  welcomed  in  any  community  in  which  you 
may  place  yourselves.  You  will  mingle  with  your 
fellow-men  under  circumstances  most  favourable  for 
securing  their  respect  and  kindly  feeling.  Keep 
on  good  terms  with  all — especially  with  your  pro- 
fessional brethren.  Be  slow  to  believe  aught  against 
any  one  of  them :  it  may  be  he  hath  not  said  it ; 
it  may  be  he  hath  not  done  it. 

Do  not  suppose  that  your  education  is  completed  ; 
you  are  only  about  to  commence  it  under  your  own 
guidance.  You  cannot  be  idle  and  maintain  your 
position  ;  science  is  advancing  and  you  must  keep 
pace  with  her  or  fall  behind. 

Be  cautious  in  giving  credence  to  alleged  facts, 
which  are  in  opposition  to  established  principles ;  it 
is  rare  that  time  does  not  prove  them  to  have  been 
without  foundation.  And  especially  do  not  be  mis- 
led by  reports  of  wonderful  cures  or  the  efficacy  of 
new  operations. 

Be  sure  that  you  are  guided  by  true  lights,  and 
that  you  follow  the  right  track.  It  is  not  right  to 
leave  a  safe  and  beaten  path,  the  course  of  which  is 
understood,  for  another  that  leads,  "  we  know  not 
where."  Let  others  precede  you  in  novelties  ;  give 
in  to  them  warily.  Be  not  hasty  in  forming  fixed  con- 
clusions ;    a  false  notion  does  not   only  exclude   a 


10  ADDRESS. 

sound  one,  it  vitiates  the  whole  mass.  Let  your  prac- 
tice be  subjected  to  fixed  rules,  and  be  not  blown 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine.  The  very  worst 
physicians  are  those  whose  practice  is  least  settled 
and  uniform.  Like  boys  chasing  butterflies,  they  end 
their  career  where  they  began  it,  and  after  a  life 
thus  spent,  have  benefited  little  by  their  experience. 

The  most  difficult  part  of  our  profession  is  to  form 
correct  diagnosis  and  clear  indications.  Where  this 
is  not  practicable,  a  masterly  inactivity  is  often  the 
most  prudent  policy ;  and  when  they  have  been 
formed,  a  limited  materia  medica,  skilfully  applied, 
is  more  efficient  than  the  use  of  numerous  com- 
pounds, the  effects  of  which  may  not  always  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  itself. 
A  novice  lost  in  the  forest  exhausts  himself  in  cir- 
cuitous travel ;  the  old  hunter  pauses  until,  by  not- 
ing the  sun  and  the  trees,  and  examining  the  objects 
around  him,  he  decides  upon  his  course,  upon  which 
he  then  goes  forward  with  cautious  and  watchful  step. 

You  see  your  preceptors  walking  the  hospital,  or 
sitting  in  their  chairs  at  the  cliniques,  and  at  a  glance 
often  hazarding  an  opinion  on  the  nature  of  a  case 
before  them.  This  is  all  very  well,  it  is  the  play. 
But  go  behind  the  scenes,  and  learn  how  their  art 
was  acquired.  It  was  by  watching  with  the  sick, 
passing  days  and  nights  together  in  their  chamber, 
nursing  them,  administering  their  medicines,  reading 
on  their  cases,  and  enquiring  of  others  about  them. 
This   is   what   I   call   bed-side   observation;   which 


ADDRESS.  11 

(if  you  are  not  already  conversant  with  it)  you  should 
at  once  begin. 

Cultivate  the  society  of  intelligent  men,  your  su- 
periors, and  especially  that  of  your  more  experienced 
brethren  in  the  profession.  Their  conversation  is 
often  far  more  instructive  than  reading.  Close  ob- 
servation of  disease,  chiefly  at  the  bed-side,  is  the 
purest  source,  the  only  pure  source  from  which  you 
can  derive  your  knowledge ;  that  fountain  is  never 
poisoned.  To  bed-side  observation  add  the  examin- 
ation, when  you  can,  of  fatal  cases.  Survey  the 
wreck,  with  a  view  to  learn  what  you  can  of  the 
nature  of  the  storm  ;  do  not  mistake  morbid  anat- 
omy for  pathology.  Morbid  anatomy  is  only  one 
mode  of  arriving  at  a  knowledge  of  pathology, 
and  without  bed-side  observation  it  is,  in  prac- 
tice, of  little  use.  Whereas,  before  morbid  anatomy 
was  cultivated,  the  simple  observation  of  disease,  and 
the  effects  of  remedies,  had  advanced  the  art  of 
treating  all  the  more  common  maladies  to  a  point 
very  little  below  its  present  level.  The  study  of 
morbid  anatomy  has  improved  medicine  as  a  science ; 
but  it  has  not  proportionably  improved  individuals  in 
their  practice  of  it  as  an  art.  Indeed,  I  fear  there 
are  some  very  bad  practitioners  among  those  eminent 
for  a  knowledge  of  morbid  anatomy.  They  have 
too  much  suffered  their  favorite  study  to  supersede 
bed-side  observation.  I  would  sooner  part  with  all  my 
knowledge  of  morbid  anatomy,  in  the  treatment  of 
medical  diseases,  than  the  touch  of  my  forefinger. 

There  is  a  common  saying  that  no  man  can  be  a 


12  ADDRESS. 

thorough  seaman  who  enters  a  ship  through  the  cabin 
windows,  and  no  man  ever  became  a  thorough  phy- 
sician by  any  other  means  than  such  as  I  have  re- 
commended. Study  your  first  cases  profoundly. 
One  case  well  understood  in  all  its  details  is  more 
improving  to  the  mind  than  scores  of  them  partially 
investigated.  Let  your  notions  of  disease  and  treat- 
ment be  precise  and  definite — no  matter  if  they  are 
limited ;  that  is  a  deficiency  which  time  will  reme- 
dy :  but  time  brings  no  remedy  for  looseness  of  rea- 
soning or  carelessness  of  observation. 

Although  a  certain  amount  of  practice  is  necessary 
to  keep  you  advancing  in  the  knowledge  of  your  pro- 
fession, it  is  not  indispensable  that  such  practice 
should  be  large  or  profitable  in  a  pecuniary  point  of 
view.  But  under  all  circumstances  it  is  indispensable 
that,  either  for  your  own  reputation,  or  for  the  sake 
of  humanity,  or  for  both,  you  should  feel  deeply  the 
responsibility  you  assume  when  you  take  charge  of 
the  life  of  a  fellow- creature,  and  that  your  whole 
energies  should  be  directed  to  the  relief  of  his  suf- 
fering. After  having  felt  yourselves  oppressed — 
borne  down  by  the  weight  of  responsibility ;  in  fear 
lest  you  should  have  done  something  that  was  wrong, 
or  omitted  to  do  something  that  would  have  been 
right,  then,  and  then  only  is  it,  that  you  are  fitting 
yourselves  to  rise  to  the  highest  degree  of  eminence 
in  your  profession. 

A  certain  degree  of  self-confidence,  of  trust  in  your 
own  resources,  is  also  necessary  to  that  end.  If 
your  way  seems  tolerably  clear,  do  not  shrink  from 


ADDRES3.  13 

responsibility  by  asking  a  consultation,  unless  there 
are  particular  circumstances  rendering  it  proper.  If 
you  are  in  much  doubt,  and  the  case  appears  danger- 
ous, obtain  a  single  consultation,  and,  if  possible,  call 
in  some  one  who  will  advise  you  as  to  the  general 
course  to  be  pursued,  and  leave  the  details  of  treat- 
ment with  yourself.  On  the  other  hand  avoid,  if 
possible,  having  a  consultation  thrust  upon  you.  If 
counsel  is  brought  in  against  your  will,  you  may  lose 
the  confidence  of  your  employer,  when  you  might 
have  retained  it  by  anticipating  his  wishes. 

Be  guarded  in  giving  opinions,  and  avoid  speaking 
hastily  or  unnecessarily  concerning  the  nature 
or  probable  termination  of  any  case,  when  you 
are  not  quite  sure  of  the  correctness  of  your  views. 
The  older  men  grow,  the  more  cautious  they  become 
in  making  statements  which  may  not  be  verified.  If, 
to  inspire  confidence  in  your  knowledge,  you  tell  the 
patient  or  his  friends  what  you  think  is  his  disease, 
what  will  be  its  progress,  or  what  remedies  you  mean 
to  apply,  you  are  at  once  committed  to  a  course  of 
procedure.  You  cannot  alter  it  without  subjecting 
yourself  to  criticism,  and  in  all  probability  time  will 
prove  you  to  have  been  wrong  in  some  of  your  ex- 
pressed opinions.  If  asked  questions  which  you  can- 
not answer,  say  so  candidly  ;  take  time  for  further 
study  of  the  case,  and  wait  until  it  developes  itself. 
This  is  very  different  from  the  conduct  of  young  phy- 
sicians, who,  perceiving  some  want  of  confidence  on 
the  part  of  their  employers,  think  to  acquire  it  by 
much  talking  about  the  nature  and  probable  termina- 


]4  ADDRESS. 

tion  of  a  disease  which  perhaps  has,  as  yet,  only 
begun,  and,  respecting  which,  no  experienced  or 
cautious  physician  would  venture  to  make  a  predic- 
tion. 

I  have  been  much  struck  with  the  fact,  that  many 
students,  who  pass   excellent  examinations,   do  not 
succeed  in  obtaining  practice,  and,  after  a  lapse  of 
years,  fall  behind  others — their  inferiors  in  profes- 
sional attainment — not  in  their  success  only,  but  ab- 
solutely in  their  knowledge.     How  does  this  happen  ? 
Why,  the  well-read  student,   conscious   of  his  own 
superior  acquirements,  often  takes  no  pains  to  ob- 
tain patients,  probably  gets  none,  becomes  morose 
and  discontented  at  seeing  his  inferior  outstrip  him, 
and  grows  rusty  in  his  practical  knowledge ;  whilst 
the  other,  who  has  patients,  is  constantly  improving 
himself  by   practice.     The   one   starts  on   a   small 
capital  of  knowledge,  and  increases  it ;    the  other 
lives  upon  his  larger  capital,  and  consequently  de- 
creases it.     Do  not  for  a  moment  suppose   that  I 
undervalue  the  advantages  of  thorough  instruction 
as  a  means  for  the  speedy  acquisition  of  professional 
success.     The  more  your  knowledge  exceeds  that  of 
your  competitors,  the  sooner  you  will  have  an  op- 
portunity   of   manifesting    your    superiority — other 
things  being   equal — and  without  a  good  education 
no  one  can  ever  rise  very  high  in  the  profession.    But 
to   obtain  business,  without  which  you  may  forget 
what  you  have  learned,  more  is  necessary  than  mere 
professional  knowledge.     The  manners  of  a  physi- 
cian should  be  conciliating,  his  conduct  prudent,  and 


ADDRESS.  15 

his  character  such  as  to  secure  the  esteem  of  the 
good.  The  rich  should  respect  him ;  the  educated 
and  intelligent  should  find  in  him  an  agreeable  com- 
panion, and  the  poor  a  kind  friend.  Above  all,  his 
intercourse  with  the  sex  should  be  marked  with  the 
most  scrupulous  delicacy,  and,  let  me  add,  a  wariness 
not  to  be  made  the  subject  of  unmerited  imputations. 
Association  with  members  of  the  other  professions 
you  will  find  highly  conducive  to  your  own  improve- 
ment. Be  ever  ready  to  unite  with  them  in  all 
proper  measures  for  meliorating  the  material  and 
moral  condition  of  society. 

This  is  truly  an  age  of  progress.  Physical  sci- 
ence is  advancing  with  giant  strides.  The  rapid 
transmission  of  persons,  and  the  still  more  rapid 
transmission  of  thought  to  widely  distant  places,  the 
extension  over  remote  regions  of  religion,  commerce 
and  civilization,  the  large  streams  of  emigration 
rushing  towards  new  countries,  or  mixing  themselves 
with  the  population  of  our  own,  and,  above  all,  the 
unsettled  state  of  the  human  mind,  and  the  spread 
amongst  us  of  new  notions  of  social  organization, 
may  bring  about  changes  in  the  character  of  our  in- 
stitutions. Occupying  a  position  in  the  social  scale 
midway  between  the  rich  and  the  poor — the  com- 
panion of  one,  the  servant  of  the  other,  and  the 
friend  of  both — endeavour  to  promote  good-will,  and 
to  preserve  a  good  understanding  between  them,  as 
to  their  respective  rights  and  duties,  In  giving  a 
direction  to  the  movements  of  the  mass,  the  influence 
of  the  medical  profession  cannot  fail  to  be  great ;  it 


16  ADDRESS. 

may  be  paramount :  yours,  I  trust,  will  ever  be  ex- 
ercised on  the  side  of  right. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  estimate  too  highly  the 
amount  of  good  each  one  of  you  may  do,  by  honest, 
well-directed  zeal,  or  how  much  evil  may  result  from 
a  neglect  of  opportunities,  talents  and  acquirements. 
I  trust  you  feel  deeply  the  responsibilities  of  your 
position,  and  are  fully  resolved  to  meet  them.  The 
faculty  and  trustees  feel  their  responsibilities,  and  I 
feel  my  own.  In  the  diplomas  you  have  just  receiv- 
ed, we  virtually  say  to  our  fellow-citizens  : — "  Here 
are  men  of  the  medical  profession  in  whom  you  may 
safely  confide — trust  them  with  your  lives  and  the 
lives  of  your  families — trust  them  with  your  wives — 
trust  them  with  your  daughters."  Look  to  it,  my 
young  friends  ;  let  not  reproach  come  upon  you, 
your  venerable  alma  mater,  or  upon  us,  from  your 
negligence  or  want  of  skill,  or  any  yet  worse  cause. 


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